Man Accused in Bakery Shooting Arrested

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CLEVELAND, Ohio --

A suspected gunman is now off the street. Cleveland second district vice unit officers arrested a man accused of shooting a local clerk days before Christmas.

Javier Sanchez, 26, was arrested at his home on West 52nd Street in Cleveland early Friday morning. Investigators say he is the gunman who shot 28-year-old Nancy Ruz in the head as she worked inside the Caribe Bake Shop on Fulton Road, December 21.

"He came in, he ordered food like a regular customer," said Leslie Burgos, 18, who was working in the kitchen.

She says Ruz was just in front of her, behind the counter. Another employee says Sanchez wanted to order something that the store didn't have, so Ruz offered him something else for free...apparently that wasn't good enough.

"He was like, 'Da me esso, da me esso.' He was like, 'Give me that, give me that,' like, in Spanish he was saying it, and I was like, 'Whoa, he's kind of loud,' and when I looked up, she didn't see the gun...I seen it," Burgos said.

Burgos says she yelled for Ruz to duck, but the gunman pulled the trigger, striking Ruz in the head. Fortunately, the bullet just grazed her and came to rest in a back wall.

"When I had yelled, (Ruz) had like ducked, so it like went up and it missed everything. It didn't do no damage," recalled Burgos.

Both women ran. Burgos went outside, Ruz hid inside a freezer and called a co-worker.

"When she heard my voice, she came out with blood on her hair and she said, 'Oh my God, why he did that, I give food to him,' " recalled another employee, Lesbie Ramos.

Cleveland police are also asking for the public's help in identifying a second suspect who they believe may have been a lookout. They say he was wearing a red jacket and was standing by the door at the time of the shooting.

Burgos says she's gradually getting more comfortable at work. She can't say the same about Ruz.

"Physically, she's ok, but she's just like nervous something would happen again. She gets scared, and I don't think she's ever gonna come back to work," said Burgos.

Co-workers say Ruz has a young son in Cleveland, but must support nine relatives back home in Honduras.

Sanchez is being held inside the Cleveland city jail; he has not yet been charged.